Lights at Night: Moscow from Space

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The spiderlike shape of Moscow appears at the center of this
nighttime image taken by astronauts aboard the International
Space Station.

ISS crew members have a unique perspective on the Earth below
them, flying at an altitude high enough to take in whole features
and regions of the planet, but near enough to still make out
interesting details. Astronauts can capture images of the Great
Barrier Reef (the
world's largest living structure, and the only living
structure visible from space), Mount Everest and its fellow
Himalayan peaks, the
Grand Canyon in the U.S. Southwest, and lit-up cities across
the world.

The ISS was at an altitude of about 240 miles (386 kilometers)
when members of the Expedition 30 crew snapped this image on
March 28. One of the station's solar array panels takes up the
left side of the image.

Also seen in the image is the green glow of the aurora borealis,
which astronauts often see from their lofty perch, and sometimes
even fly through. Auroras occur in a region of the atmosphere
between 60 miles (100 km) to 250 miles (400 km), which makes the
ISS perfectly positioned to observe them.

Faint lines of airglow, caused by ultraviolet radiation exciting
the gas molecules in the Earth's upper atmosphere, are also seen
in the image.

The bright white light in the upper right corner of the image is
daybreak, as the sun's rays begin to peak around the Earth.
Astronauts see 16 sunrises and sunsets on average in one
24-hour orbit of the planet.